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Google spaffs €3bn on power-grubbin' Euro bit barns while boasting of its 'biggest renewable energy purchase ever'

Oh shoot, Climate Day. Quick everyone, look green!

Google CEO Sundar Pichai used a trip to Finland to tell world+dog that the ad giant would be ploughing billions of Euros into European data centres.

The figure includes a €600m increase in spending at Google's Hamina data centre in the small town on the Finnish coast next year, bringing total spending to €2bn since 2009.

The Hamina bit barn is housed in a converted paper mill and uses seawater from the Gulf of Finland to reduce cooling costs, according to the company's blog. This extra investment is estimated to "support" 4,300 jobs in Finland over the next two years.

Google's other European "hyperscale" data centres are located in St Ghislain-Mons, Belgium; Dublin, Ireland; and Eemshaven-Groningen in the Netherlands.

The company also took the opportunity of Climate Day – observed with strikes around the world today – to announce its "biggest renewable energy purchase ever" with an increased focus on solar rather than wind reflecting falling prices.

The long-term deals are said to provide 1,600MW of energy, increasing the company's renewable agreements to 5,500MW. Google claimed the 18 deals will help start $2bn investments in energy infrastructure and the firm is also making its first investment in a hybrid solar-wind power plant in Chile.

Amazon's latest goal: Fair pay and bathroom breaks for all staf... Nah, they're going for carbon-neutral

Not to be outdone, Amazon also waded in with a promise to be carbon neutral by 2040. By the end of 2019, Amazon reckons it will be using renewable energy for 40 per cent of its activities and pledged to double this to 80 per cent of energy use by 2030. It also vowed to make half its shipments zero carbon by 2030 – helped by its order for 100,000 electric delivery vehicles.

No word on what this means for Bezos-funded Blue Origin or if Amazon will start paying meaningful amounts of tax.

It is also not clear how anyone will know if Amazon meets its own targets. It has resisted releasing data on energy use in Australia, citing commercial confidentiality. ®

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